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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741458">Just Each Other</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeutrinoClover/pseuds/NeutrinoClover'>NeutrinoClover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FF7 Daemon AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Daemons, Angst, Daemon Settling, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Trauma, Non Consensual Daemon Touching, Sephiroth's (Compilation of FFVII) Terrible Childhood, Young Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:40:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeutrinoClover/pseuds/NeutrinoClover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sephiroth has never known what a normal daemon is like. Growing up in the labs wasn't really conducive to learning - and ever since Gast left, things only got worse. And if his daemon isn't what Shinra wants her to be, then Hojo will just force her to change.</p>
<p>A look at Sephiroth's childhood in a daemon AU.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FF7 Daemon AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just Each Other</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the first story I'm posting in a daemon AU I've been working on for a while. More to follow (I hope)!</p>
<p>A big thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknownlifeform/pseuds/unknownlifeform">unknownlifeform</a> and their daemon AU series <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801477">Mako green and Dust gold</a> for inspiring me to finally write and post this series that I'd been thinking about! Their stories are amazing and you should definitely check them out!</p>
<p>I've borrowed a couple of animal choices for the daemons from their series because they seemed so fitting to me: the only one that appears in this story is Hojo's daemon. Again, their series is awesome and you can read it here (if the link above doesn't work):</p>
<p>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801477</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Sephiroth was little, he didn't know what animals were like. He and Tifereth only knew the lab's rats and mice, and the daemons of the researchers. So that was what they were. Tifereth would sleep beside him as a white rat, and during the day she would imitate the daemons of whatever lab techs were around. While the other daemons never acknowledged her, she still liked trying to mimic their forms, and Sephiroth liked feeling all the animals, wondering where they came from and what they were called. Their favorite was Professor Gast's - a bird with slick black and white feathers. She was an Adelie penguin, Gast said, and she was far more outgoing than most people's daemons. Even when they were very small, Sephiroth and Tifereth noticed that she would talk to other people's daemons without hesitance, or sit on Gast's desk and help with his work.</p>
<p>She was friendly to them too. She would talk quietly to Tifereth or pet her with her beak whenever they saw Gast and sometimes she even let Tifereth cuddle close to her feathered belly, warm and soft like nothing else. Hojo didn't like that, but Sephiroth loved it, and Tifereth did too. They savored whatever scraps of physical affection they could get.</p>
<p>Sephiroth felt something strange when that happened, seeing his daemon so close to another. She would be shaped like one of the white lab rats, or a baby bird to imitate Gast's, and he imagined what it felt like. Gast didn't hold him like that, not since he was very small and he could hardly remember it - now that Sephiroth was big, five years old, he would only touch his shoulders, or sometimes his hair, but Sephiroth wished he would hold him like his daemon held Tifereth. It felt strange to be jealous of his own daemon, but he undeniably was.</p>
<p>But then Gast left. </p>
<p>He explained that he had to protect the 'Ancient' from the labs and he'd come back for Sephiroth. Sephiroth didn't even know what an Ancient was or why it would be so important. Gast said they had to be brave. To be strong. He wrapped an arm around Sephiroth's tiny shoulders and promised he'd come back. The penguin daemon crooned gently to Tifereth, tucking her rat form close to herself, and murmuring something soothing. The feel of her soft feathers resonated across their link and made Sephiroth tremble.</p>
<p>Hot tears were running down Sephiroth's face - he briefly thought that Hojo would be angry - and he tried to hold on, to keep Gast from leaving.</p>
<p>When the professor walked away, Sephiroth couldn't be Hojo's perfect subject anymore.</p>
<p>He yelled and sobbed and ran after Gast, trying to <em> hold on </em>. Cloth shredded under his fingers as he gripped too tight. Sephiroth screamed his frustration and terror, wrapping his arms around Gast's leg, sobbing into the ripped fabric.</p>
<p>Tifereth was no different - she tried to hold onto the penguin, turning into a snake and coiling around her. But the bird shrieked in fury and pecked at her, trying to dislodge the grip.</p>
<p>Sephiroth cried out in surprise and pain and let go to run to his daemon. As he reached for her, the penguin slid out of her grasp and into Gast's waiting arms.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," said the professor, tears running into his moustache. "I'm so sorry."</p>
<p>Sephiroth sobbed, arms full of Tifereth, wanting to run back to Gast and hold on to him, but unwilling to let go of his daemon.</p>
<p>"It's hopeless."</p>
<p>He choked on a wail, staring at his daemon. She hardly ever spoke.</p>
<p>"We're hopeless, that's it, isn't it!" Her snake voice came out breathy, or maybe she was crying like him. "We're a lost cause, and you're leaving because you know you can't help!"</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Gast apologized again, his voice choked like Sephiroth's got when he cried, and turned away. </p>
<p><em> "You're all we have!" </em> Tifereth's last, desperate scream was overwhelming in the tiny room.</p>
<p>The door clicked shut behind Gast's white coat.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>When Sephiroth was twelve, he started going on missions. He loved them. He loved the sky, the smell of fresh air, the sense of freedom. He loved seeing other people - who smiled and laughed among themselves, who talked to him like a human being. He loved the extra space for Tifereth to fly in as a bird, the terrain for her to explore, the new animals for her to imitate.</p>
<p>But after a few missions, even he couldn't help but notice things weren't right.</p>
<p>The SOLDIERS were so much older than he was, and they never looked at him and Tifereth like they belonged there. Instead, it was looks of pity ("Not even Settled yet - can't be older than fourteen" "The military ain't no place for a kid") and resentment ("He's gonna slow down the whole squad" "Wonder who his parents are - gotta be pretty high up if they got him <em> here" </em>)</p>
<p>Of course, he proved them wrong quickly. None of the monsters they were sent after were even a tenth as bad as what he and Tifereth fought regularly in the labs, and they took them down quickly. His sword and her claws, fangs, and talons were a deadly combination. </p>
<p>She was well used to using her most effective forms in combat - eagles, tigers, wolves, bears, even a few enormous snakes. Long gone were the rats and mice of their childhood.</p>
<p>Sephiroth had hoped the others would be more accepting after he and Tifereth proved their worth. As usual in his experience, the hope was unfounded.</p>
<p>Instead, the whispers began. Hushed now, afraid of him noticing, even though his hearing was sharp enough to catch every word. </p>
<p>"Did you see that way they dealt with those Kalm Fangs?"</p>
<p>"It's unnatural for an Unsettled daemon to fight like that."</p>
<p>"Didn't you see his eyes? They're both monsters, it's the only explanation."</p>
<p>"Shinra's gone too far, expecting us to work with <em> that." </em></p>
<p>Sephiroth ducked his head and stayed quiet. No matter what the other SOLDIERs said, missions were still better than being in the labs. Seated on the bench in the truck beside him, Tifereth buried her lynx head in his shirt. A wave of panic rushed through him at the thought that someone might see them touching, and he nearly shoved her away - until it dawned on him that Hojo wasn't here and none of the SOLDIERs would care. In fact, the others were touching their daemons too, perhaps it was even normal?</p>
<p>He buried a hand in her ruff and could feel her shaking. Through the bond he could sense dismay and… hurt? Why had the others upset her that much? It was only confirmation of what they both heard all the time in the labs. Nothing new.</p>
<p>"Excuse me?"</p>
<p>Sephiroth jerked his hand out of Tifereth's fur immediately. She was already sitting up straight, thick coat hiding the tremors he knew were still running down her body. </p>
<p>The goose daemon on the bench beside them watched this with interest, before she continued.</p>
<p>"Sorry to startle you. I'm Cleo, and this is Calvin. Just wanted to say hello."</p>
<p>Her human was the SOLDIER sitting beside them. He was chatting with the other SOLDIERs, not saying much, but clearly part of the group. Every few moments he'd sneak a side glance over to them to watch what his daemon was doing.</p>
<p>Neither Sephiroth nor Tifereth said anything.</p>
<p>"What's your name? I don't think you were introduced."</p>
<p>Sephiroth frowned for a moment, confused, but Tifereth understood faster than he did. She turned to face the goose daemon directly, and leaned forward, sniffing at her. The goose held very still as the sharp fangs moved beside her long throat, and delicately dipped her head to run the tip of her beak along Tifereth's fur.</p>
<p>"Tifereth."</p>
<p>Sephiroth stared in awe. Tifereth didn't speak often, even to him, and certainly never to other daemons. The only exception would be Hojo's daemon, who worked on her as often as the professor worked on him, and was just as demanding.</p>
<p>With evident relief, the goose responded "That's a lovely name! And it suits you. You know, you were very impressive during the mission earlier - have you fought Kalm Fangs before?"</p>
<p>Tifereth stared for a moment, then hopped off the bench and slunk over to Sephiroth's other side, where she sat with her shoulders pressed to his legs. He looked awkwardly at the goose daemon, wanting somehow to tell her that Tifereth had been more sociable with her than with any daemon since… <em> Gast. </em></p>
<p>But she had already given a disdainful sniff - an odd little honk through her goose beak - and returned to her SOLDIER.</p>
<p>The word must have spread, because after that, no one tried to approach them, human or daemon.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>"We just can't have a famous SOLDIER with an Unsettled daemon."</p>
<p>"Exactly - it makes him look like a child. And no one wants a child leading them into battle."</p>
<p>"It's just the wrong <em> look, </em> you know?"</p>
<p>Sephiroth sat very still on his chair in the PR department's conference room. He suspected that Hojo and the PR people had all but forgotten he and Tifereth were in the room, and he was in no mood to remind them. Tifereth seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and she was sitting at his feet as a black cat - quiet and unassuming, but not a prey animal. Hojo didn't like it when she was anything but a powerful predator.</p>
<p>"And what am I supposed to do about that?" Hojo said waspishly. "His demon's not Settled yet - it's not damaging their combat ability. I've made very sure that <em> that </em> is beyond reproach."</p>
<p>"It's not about combat ability," returned the PR woman, just as irritated. Sephiroth watched her with interest - it wasn't often people talked back to the professor. Her daemon, a greenish lizard on her shoulder arched its back restlessly and shifted its spiral-shaped tail. "It's about how he <em> looks. </em>We can't publicize Shinra's great SOLDIER without knowing what his daemon is, just like we can't do it without pictures of him."</p>
<p>"That's the thing!" added the other PR person. "See here, without seeing the boy we might have gone in completely the wrong direction with his image! The hair for instance. And the <em> eyes </em> - we'll have to make a specific point of <em> emphasizing </em> them, otherwise they'll make people uncomfortable. Give him a title relating to them or something. The Silver Blade?"</p>
<p>"The Silver SOLDIER," the woman said sagely. "Alliteration, always better."</p>
<p>"Excuse me, but what are you implying about my project?"</p>
<p>They both turned back to Hojo as though just remembering his presence. And then the professor's daemon spoke up.</p>
<p>"He's clearly going to be more than just an ordinary <em> SOLDIER. </em>The Silver General, perhaps?"</p>
<p>"Ah, yes, that could work." The man seemed to have lost some steam - Hojo's daemon tended to have that effect on people. Human daemons were rare, and Lin was particularly disturbing. Too like her human.</p>
<p>Tifereth had imitated just about every animal she and Sephiroth had heard of, either out of their own curiosity or for the scientists to gather data, but human was one shape she'd never tried. Hojo hadn't told her to, and she and Sephiroth had no desire to find out what it was like.</p>
<p>The woman cleared her throat. "His daemon needs to Settle. And that's final." On her shoulder, the lizard arched its back, yellow and red stripes covering its sides.</p>
<p>Wait. Hadn't it been green a minute ago?</p>
<p>"Chameleon," whispered Tifereth, for their ears only. Sephiroth nodded, grateful for her sharp eyes and good memory.</p>
<p>"And if it doesn't?"</p>
<p>That was Lin.</p>
<p>The PR people were clearly ill at ease with the woman daemon, but the woman with the chameleon daemon met her eyes anyway.</p>
<p>"The President won't be happy. And that's not my problem. Find a way to make it happen, because Shinra isn't getting his propaganda figurehead until it Settles."</p>
<p>"We'll manage it."</p>
<p>And with that, Hojo got up and swept out of the room with an imperious gesture at Sephiroth to follow.</p>
<p>As they left, Tifereth shifted into an owl, ostensibly to fly alongside them, but mostly to show off the ability that no one wanted her to still have.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>"What's going on?"</p>
<p>Sephiroth knew he wasn't supposed to talk, but Tifereth couldn't, and they needed to know.</p>
<p>The setup didn't look anything like any other experiments, and he didn't like the looks of the unfamiliar machinery.</p>
<p>Hojo's daemon responded, as she carried Tifereth to the strange metal cage. "You need to Settle. And since we don't have time to wait, we're going to induce it."</p>
<p>Tifereth didn't wait to hear more.</p>
<p>Wings beat the air as she leapt out of Lin's arms and made for freedom. Sephiroth jerked out of the hold of a lab tech to follow, sprinting for the door.</p>
<p>He didn't quite understand her fear, but it wouldn't be the first time she saw something he didn't. He trusted her, and even if he didn't, he'd follow her anyway.</p>
<p>The door slammed shut, and Tifereth wheeled around, landing on top of a high cabinet, in the foot of clearance below the ceiling.</p>
<p>Sephiroth ran to the cabinet, though he wasn't sure what he could do to help her. There were no other doors. And certainly no windows. The room was filled with lab techs and researchers, and three security officers. </p>
<p>They'd never gotten out of doing an experiment before and he didn't know how this could be different.</p>
<p>"Retrieve the daemon," Hojo ordered, as crisp as ever.</p>
<p>A tech's crow daemon fluttered to the cabinet, grabbing at Tifereth. She tugged away, losing a few feathers, but a bigger bird was bearing down on her.</p>
<p><em> Run! </em>thought Sephiroth, though he didn't dare say it out loud. His daemon seemed to hear him anyway, as she shifted into a gecko, scurrying through the too-loose grasps of the bird daemons and down into the crack between the wall and the cabinet.</p>
<p>"Well now." Sephiroth froze at the sound of Hojo's voice. "Sephiroth, call your daemon out so we can continue the procedure."</p>
<p>Sephiroth wanted to refuse, but he couldn't. He felt his mouth move, shaping the words.</p>
<p>"Tifereth. Come out." <em> I'm sorry, please don't. They'll hurt you. </em></p>
<p>No response. Hojo clicked his tongue. "Try again, boy. Then we'll have to take stronger measures."</p>
<p>Even as he repeated his plea, Sephiroth was wondering what Hojo meant.</p>
<p>He quickly found out, as the professor gestured the guards over to the cabinet and directed them to shove.</p>
<p>
  <em> "No!" </em>
</p>
<p>No one listened to him.</p>
<p>The cabinet shifted and he felt a spike of fear from Tifereth as the crack between it and the wall narrowed. She shifted again - into some sort of bug, he couldn't tell what - and Hojo laughed.</p>
<p>Sephiroth hated his laughter more than ever before.</p>
<p>They shoved again, and he felt a jolt of pain from her, radiating along his elbows and knees. Sephiroth wanted to cry. Wanted to beg. He would have if he'd thought it would make the slightest difference.</p>
<p>Tifereth shifted again - he felt the ache of injuries as they reasserted themselves on her new form.</p>
<p>But apparently she'd chosen her shape well, because the next time they shoved, he felt no new pain. Instead, there was almost a feeling of smugness radiating along the bond. The guards pushed harder on the cabinet, but it seemed to have gone as far as it could, with Tifereth still behind it.</p>
<p>Lin looked at him, trembling against the wall and seemed to recognize that.</p>
<p>"I have a better idea."</p>
<p>Hojo turned to her, and then to Sephiroth and seemed to understand.</p>
<p>But Sephiroth had no clue what they were planning - even as the guards grabbed him and went to the door he didn't realize what was happening. Until the door opened, just for a moment, and he was dragged out. And then he realized.</p>
<p>The guards marched him away, along the corridor, and as he felt the bond begin to pull tight, with Tifereth still behind the cabinet in that awful room, Sephiroth finally started to struggle, despite the ache in his limbs.</p>
<p>And stopped struggling a moment later as one of the guards jammed a needle into his neck.</p>
<p>Of course. He had been an idiot to think he could get away - Hojo would have thought of everything. It was hopeless to fight him.</p>
<p>Sephiroth dangled limply in the guards' grasp, strangled gasps the only sound he could make as the bond stretched more and more. </p>
<p>The pain was overwhelming, worse than anything Hojo had ever put them through. Tears stung his eyes as he felt Tifereth getting farther and farther away. His heart was being ripped out of his chest, his insides were stretched between him and his soul, the connection pulling thinner and tighter every second. Someone was whimpering - was that him? - he couldn't have moved even if he hadn't been drugged, she was so far away now, everything hurt…</p>
<p>And then the pain let up, just for a moment. Not gone, but a little less agonizing. In the moment of clarity, Sephiroth realized what had happened: Tifereth must have abandoned her hiding place, run to the door to be closer to him.</p>
<p>And then he felt something else, something worse. </p>
<p>He wouldn't have thought anything could be worse than being pulled away from her like that, but it had been paradise compared to this.</p>
<p>His heart wasn't being ripped out, it was being <em> grabbed </em> . Something <em> else </em> was connected to their bond, something foreign and aggressive. He choked out a breathless sob as he felt Tifereth shift, again and again, despite her injuries. Anything to be rid of that invasive, violating sensation.</p>
<p>Sephiroth nearly threw up when the guards tossed him back into the room and he saw what was happening.</p>
<p>Hojo had grabbed Tifereth.</p>
<p>He wasn't even wearing gloves, and both his hands were tight around her.</p>
<p>Tifereth was thrashing wildly, clawing and biting and snapping, but she couldn't bear to make more contact with him than there already was, and he wouldn't let go.</p>
<p>She shifted again, to a bird, but he just tightened his grip on her feathers, so she did it again, and again.</p>
<p>Bird, cat, snake, beetle, even a fish - suffocating would be better than letting him keep his hold on her.</p>
<p>Sephiroth trembled where he lay on the ground. With the drugs still in his system, he couldn't even get up, only watch in horror as Hojo calmly walked to the gleaming metal cage, held open by his own daemon.</p>
<p>Tifereth couldn't fight anymore, exhausted and still injured, and she lay still as a white rat.</p>
<p>Their oldest form, Sephiroth thought blearily. They were always just lab rats in the end.</p>
<p>Hojo set her down in the cage and Sephiroth sobbed at the sudden relief.</p>
<p>The cage's door clicked shut, and someone dragged him onto a table, strapping him down efficiently, and pressing something into his hands.</p>
<p>"Commencing procedure. Begin particle interception."</p>
<p>Turning his head to watch, Sephiroth saw his daemon struggle to stand, despite the injuries of her legs. Around her, the cage began to glow, a cold white light. He could smell ozone in the air.</p>
<p>"Begin intradaemonal channelling."</p>
<p>She squeaked in her rat voice, as she began to glow golden. The light inside her grew brighter and brighter, silhouetting her bones like a living x-ray, blotting out the glow of the cage.</p>
<p>From this angle, it was easy to see the damage to her legs, cracked bones and dislocated joints. She shouldn't have been fighting and shifting like that - it had hurt her worse.</p>
<p>"Initiate complement connection."</p>
<p>Sephiroth gritted his teeth as the metal bar in his hands burned hot. It felt like he was being drawn out of his body, down into the machinery.</p>
<p>"And begin selection phase!" There was too much glee in Hojo's voice.</p>
<p>That was Sephiroth's last thought before he was once more overwhelmed by pain.</p>
<p>He didn't know how long it went on - minutes, hours, days - the confrontation in the room, Tifereth's escape, the stretching of their bond seemed like a distant memory.</p>
<p>In his moments of clarity, he recognized that it was Tifereth's pain, not his own, that suffused his consciousness. But they felt like one being, and he screamed with her. As her body lost its form, molding itself along different lines, shifting too fast to relax into any shape, the golden light keeping her from stabilizing.</p>
<p>Tears dripped down his face as she was wrenched through every shape of every animal they'd ever tried, and then the ones they hadn't. He sobbed as he saw her take on the beginnings of a human body, almost ready to accept her Settling like that if it would mean an end to this.</p>
<p>But she moved away from the human limbs and face soon enough and kept phasing through animals, so fast Sephiroth couldn't recognize them anymore.</p>
<p>When he closed his eyes, it was in exhaustion, not acceptance, and he didn't open them again until he heard Hojo's voice.</p>
<p>"Selection has stabilized. Power down the particle inhibitors."</p>
<p>Sephiroth dragged his eyes open, to see a long, smooth body suspending in the golden light. And then the brightness faded, and Tifereth fell to the floor of the cage.</p>
<p>Lin opened the latch and dragged her out, pulling on the black and silver coils.</p>
<p>Someone released Sephiroth, and he half fell off of the bench as he crawled to his daemon.</p>
<p>Tifereth was a snake, long and scaly, black with silver marks.</p>
<p>He didn't care what her shape was, he just needed to hold her. He curled over her limp form, tears dripping onto her scales, wondering what had been done to them.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>May or may not be a chapter of this to follow, and I have a few more oneshots in this verse that I'd like to post! Again, so much thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknownlifeform/pseuds/unknownlifeform">unknownlifeform</a> for inspiring me. &lt;3&lt;3&lt;3 Their <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801477">series</a> is so amazing and I just had to write down this stuff that had been buzzing around in my head for a while after I read it.</p>
<p>Let me know what you thought!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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